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It's incredibly fun and very rewarding when you're finished.
Water cooling on a budget
- Thread starter britain4
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Yep I’m looking forward to getting stuck into it. As advised I will avoid the very cheap stuff though, sounded too good to be true but I had to make sure. Will be refreshing to not have to worry about temps so much for a change and hopefully have something that looks nice too 
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I'd ignore the gpu chilling unless it's getting really hot and just go with an AIO or decent air cooler on the cpu which appears to be the issue. I'd personally go air chilled on the cpu as it has the additional benefit of blowing air over the VRMs if they are located near the cpu which all boards I've seen appear to be. Don't be put off by big air coolers, they don't put ant strain on the motherboard unless you drop the base unit. Motherboards are incredibly strong.
If you insist on cooling for the gpu what about the ocuk tech labs kraken kits? At worst you'd need to get a new kraken bracket for a new gpu down the line and the rad/pump part of the kit can be reused there.
If you insist on cooling for the gpu what about the ocuk tech labs kraken kits? At worst you'd need to get a new kraken bracket for a new gpu down the line and the rad/pump part of the kit can be reused there.
The GPU is getting hot and making a lot of noise, it’s limiting the voltage I can put through it and it’s distractingly loud
My board has a big heat sink on the VRMs which has kept them sufficiently cool thus far. Point taken on the straining of the board but I still don’t like the look of them.
I wouldn’t mind picking up an AIO bracket for the GPU if I could be 100% certain of getting a new one when I get a new GPU - otherwise I’ve then got 2 redundant AIOs I’d probably end up replacing with a full loop anyway. Probably doesn’t sound like a big deal to some but I like to futureproof my purchases lol.
Then I’ve got to find space for 2 radiators in my case which could be done but more difficult than just having an external rad in a custom loop...
The GPU is getting hot and making a lot of noise, it’s limiting the voltage I can put through it and it’s distractingly loud
My board has a big heat sink on the VRMs which has kept them sufficiently cool thus far. I’d only get another AIO for the CPU if I could be certain I could get a bracket for a future GPU down the line...
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isnt AIO considered as a budget?
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Depends, the latest corsair AIO, the 150i is over £150. For an AIO I wouldn't say that was budget friendly haha.
Yeah... you’re right actually, I could pick up a 240mm AIO for around the £50 mark and a bracket for my GPU and call it a day until I get my next GPU and they stop making the brackets for them lol.
Single big rad and a custom loop would just be easier to accommodate in my case... and more fun and expandable and probably better at cooling... maybe a more water cooling friendly case and another AIO would be the most “cost effective” way? In the short term anyway... I wouldn't like to add £30+ to the cost of a £100 used 780 ti that I can't transfer to my next card.. (even assuming there is a bracket available for the new one) then I might as well have just spent the extra £40 and gone for a 1060 lol
This came to mind when I read the words "watercooling on a budget".
LOL if I could do that I would!
Is that one of the mineral oil ones?
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got an AIO cooling the CPU and an AIO cooling the GPU with a kraken G12. If you want a custom loop then save up for it. I don't care what the inside of a case looks like but the AIO's allow easy reach to the motherboard and no clearance issues. If you have a problem with temps or noise the now then I wouldn't wait.
I don't know! It might be an actual fish tank. The blurry yellow things might well be fish. But mineral oil would work! Not sure the fish would appreciate that though....
Yeah temps and noise are both an issue with it really, more so on the GPU but if I had better CPU cooling I could probably go further with my overclock so it’d be good all round.
Wonder if just re pasting the card would help while I’m deciding - 4 years of running toasty can’t have done it much good
Oh yeah I didn’t spot the blurry things... now I’m confused lol, surely there would be harmful metals etc in there...?
I'm going to skip on the AIO idea as my current one is 6 years old so I'd say it was about due for replacement anyway so I'd have to buy 2
Probably going down the custom loop route with a single 360mm rad in either a budget friendly choice or a Fractal Design R6 (depending on how much I decide to spend) - the only two mid towers I can find that'll fit a 360mm rad in the front and 2 3.5" drives and still have a PSU shroud!
Probably going down the custom loop route with a single 360mm rad in either a budget friendly choice or a Fractal Design R6 (depending on how much I decide to spend) - the only two mid towers I can find that'll fit a 360mm rad in the front and 2 3.5" drives and still have a PSU shroud!
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once you have your rads and pumps your going to keep em for quiet a while .
1 of my triples must be 10 yrs old ..
look on ebay ..or sunday flea market things you might pick up a bargin ..
tubing is cheap ..just don't use those colour dyes .. now I just use a silver coil ...
1 of my triples must be 10 yrs old ..
look on ebay ..or sunday flea market things you might pick up a bargin ..
tubing is cheap ..just don't use those colour dyes .. now I just use a silver coil ...
Yeah that's what I'd be hoping to do, I'd like to think this stuff's going to last me a while once I make the investment. Used sounds like a good option, I like to keep my eye on Facebook for that since eBay seems overpriced a lot of the time
I have seen car coolant tubing used which is black but cheaper, more flexible and less likely to leak than standard clear tubing
I have seen car coolant tubing used which is black but cheaper, more flexible and less likely to leak than standard clear tubing
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alphacool eisbaer- actual AIO that can be expanded and copper rad and thicker tubing . newer versions will be shipped with bequiet pure wings soon and the extreme version has D5 Pump and Silent Wing 3 fans on that should challenge likes of NZXT AIO for pricing ...
*not sure if they stated D5 pump yet...opps*
*not sure if they stated D5 pump yet...opps*
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car coolant tubing used which is black but cheaper, more flexible and less likely to leak than standard clear tubing
you can get tubing for £3 a mtr with a massive case and 2 loops 3mtrs does me .. for what it costs not worth going cheaper https://www.overclockers.co.uk/mayh...ooling-tubing-12-34-19-13mm-1m-wc-113-mh.html
you can get tubing for £3 a mtr with a massive case and 2 loops 3mtrs does me .. for what it costs not worth going cheaper https://www.overclockers.co.uk/mayh...ooling-tubing-12-34-19-13mm-1m-wc-113-mh.html
The Eisbaer sounds quite interesting but I wouldn't like to be restricted to (probably) expensive proprietary blocks... definitely one to look into though as its best of both worlds...
Yeah I know it's not expensive but I've heard the other two points mentioned... it's not pretty but it tends not to leak
Yeah I know it's not expensive but I've heard the other two points mentioned... it's not pretty but it tends not to leak
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can run any GPU blocks you wish - get grab the QDC kit and you'll have two hoses with QDC and 8/11 compression on the other end . I mixed silent loop and phanteks GPU block together though had to 'cut' bequiet's close loop and add the block in . Eisbaer just easier to use but isnt pretty
That sounds like an interesting way of doing it, maybe a 360mm AIO plus one of those QDC kits and a GPU block would see me right... how do you go about filling and replacing coolant etc in one of those setups, do you have a link to some more info on them?